Hearts find out their Europa League and Conference League play-off opponents

UEFA handed Hearts a Conference League play-off tie against the winner of Paide Linnameeskond v Rapid Vienna today. Should they lose to Benfica in the Europa League third qualifying round, the Tynecastle side will drop into the Conference and travel to either Estonia or Austria. If they manage to overcome the Portuguese side, Wouter Vrancken’s team will face Aarhus of Denmark or Sabah from Azerbaijan in the Europa League play-off.

Hearts travel to Lisbon on Wednesday as firm underdogs for the first leg against Benfica, which takes place the following night in the Estadio da Luz. More than 50,000 fans are expected inside the stadium, with 3,400 tickets given to the Edinburgh club. Benfica beat St Gallen 5-0 last week to progress on a 6-2 aggregate and face Hearts, who dropped out of the Champions League after a 6-0 aggregate defeat by Sturm Graz.

The first leg of both the Europa League and Conference League play-offs are due to take place on Thursday, 20 August, with the second legs a week later on 27 August. Hearts are scheduled to be at home first in both tournaments. UEFA say final dates for both legs should be confirmed within the next 24 hours and fans are encouraged not to book any travel until then. Victory in either tie would secure league-stage football and guarantee several million pounds of extra revenue.

Hearts were seeded in the Europa draw but not the Conference. This is because UEFA rules state that a team progressing to the next round in any competition takes the higher co-efficient from the tie they won, which means Hearts would progress with Benfica’s co-efficient were they to go through. Dropping into the Conference League on the back of defeat would see the Tynecastle side or Benfica unseeded because UEFA say losing teams parachuting do so on the lower co-efficient from the tie they lost.

A 6-0 aggregate defeat by Austrian side Sturm in the Champions League second qualifying round last month saw Hearts drop into the Europa League. They were grateful for the safety net, although Benfica are arguably even tougher opponents than Sturm. Defeat against the Portuguese would trigger another drop into the Conference League. However, were Hearts to lose in the Conference League play-off, they would be out of European competition entirely.

Another trip to Austria would seem the most likely outcome. Benfica losing to Hearts over two legs would be considered a major upset, therefore it is expected that Vrancken’s team will be competing in the Conference League play-off. Similarly, Rapid are heavy favourites to eliminate Paide in their third qualifying round tie to set up a meeting with the Jambos.

Hearts would see that tie as winnable following two difficult rounds against Sturm and Benfica. They would hope to win the home leg first and take a positive result with them for the second leg. However, there is plenty football to be played before then. Benfica will command the full attention of Vrancken and his players for the next few days.